Joist brace



C. O. DUNHAM Oct. 21, 1958 JOIST BRACE Filed July 5, 1955 INVENTOR.

CLflYToN o. DUN/ HM mamym H TTORNEVS United States Patent JOIST BRACEClayton 0. Dunham, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Royal J. Ahlberg,Minneapolis, Minn.

Application July 5, 1955, Serial No. 520,024 8 Claims. (Cl. 20-05) Thisinvention relates generally to a bracing unit for supporting memberssuch as joists and the like.

Frequently structure-suporting members require reinforcmg bracing atintermediate portions thereof to substantially eliminate deflection dueto a stress thereon.

It is an object of my present invention to provide a bracing unit forsupporting members such as joists and the like to reinforce intermediateportions thereof against deflection due to stress thereon.

It is another object to provide a bracing unit particularly adapted forreinforcing joists and the like wherein an adjustable elongated tyingmember is anchored at its upper ends in longitudinally spaced apartrelation on opposite sides of the joist and extends angularly downwardlytherefrom to pass under an intermediate portion of the joist to form asling support for said intermediate portion and eliminate deflectionthereof. 7

It is still another object of my invention to provide a multiple sectionbracing unit particularly adapted for easy assembly and adjustment whichwill usually be provided in the form of a single bracing unit made up aplurality of interconnected bracing elements with takeup adjustmentmeans at the respective points of interconnection but if necessary maybe provided in the form of a double bracing unit to provide additionalreinforcement for the support member being braced.

These and other objects and advantages of invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to thesame or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of an alternative form of myinvention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view showing portions thereof in frontelevation;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 77 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line8-8 of Fig. 1.

As best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, I provide an elongatedreinforcing bracing unit which, in the form shown, is designed toprovide intermediate reinforcement for a supporting member such as thefloor joist 11. The entire reinforcing unit, as illustrated in Fig. 3,is designated by the numeral 10 and, in the form shown, this bracingunit 10 isconstructed of three elongated inter connected bracingelements 10a, 10b and 100. The outer end elements 10a and 100 arerespectively anchored at their upper ends by brackets 12 which are fixedon op- 2,856,644 Patented Oct. 21, 1958 posite sides of the joist 11 inlongitudinally spaced apart relation as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

One end portion of each of the end elements 10a and has a hook 10dformed therein. The end anchoring brackets 12 are constructed to receiveeither the hook end of the elements 10a and 10c or the other end thereofwhich is threaded as shown in the drawing to receive a take-up nut 10::thereon. In order to facilitate the adjustable tensioning of the bracingunit 10, it is desirable to permit the position of the take-upadjustment element to be selected whereby access thereto will bemaintained.

The two end elements 10a and 100 are connected at their lower ends tothe intermediate element 10b as by the interconnectors 14. Theseinterconnectors are, in the form shown, made from sheet metal initiallydoubled back upon itself to form a loop or sleeve 14b and thereafterbent around to form the loops or sleeves 14a and 14c as best shown inFig. 3. The entire interconnector is, of course, made from a singlepiece of relatively stiff sheet material and a pair of web elements 14dare formed between the two sleeves 14a and 140. One end of theintermediate element 10b has a hook 10d formed therein and the other endthereof is threaded to receive an adjustment take-up nut 10e asillustrated. Each interconnector 14 is slipped over one of the bracingelements in a manner to permit the hook 10d thereof to positivelyinterconnect and stabilize the two end sleeves 14a and as best shown inFig. 3. This positively prevents distortion of the interconnector 14even though the same is made from relatively light sheet metal andpermits the take-up nut 10:: to be positioned for easy access. In Fig. 3the end element 1011 has the hook thereof engaged with the anchoringbracket 12 which is constructed with a saddle element 12a with a notchat the hook receiving end thereof. The hook end 10d of the intermediatemember 10b is interconnected with the threaded end of the end member1011 by one of the interconnectors 14.. The other end member 100 has thethreaded end thereof disposed upwardly adjacent the other anchor 12which,

in the form shown, is reversed to permit the easy turning of the take-upnut and the threaded end of the intermediate element 1% is connectedwith the hook end of the end element 100 by the other interconnector 14whereby the take-up nut 10c on element 10b is positioned for easy accessadjacent said interconnector.

In Figs. 1,2 and 8, an alternative form of my invention is illustratedwhereby conventional type turn buckles 13 are provided for tensioningthe tying or bracing units 10. Similar anchoring brackets 12 areprovided for the ends of said units and, in the form shown, double unitsmay be criss-crossed under the joist 11 to provide additional support ifnecessary.

It will be seen that I have provided a relatively simple yet highlyefficient bracing unit for reinforcing inter mediate portions ofsupporting members such as joists and the like whereby deflectionthereof can be easily controlled. In the form shown, multiple elementtying units are provided but obviously these units could be preformedsingle elongated members extending continuously from one anchoringbracket 12 to the other. This, of course, would position the take-upnuts in a relatively inaccessible location and would, therefore, besomewhat inconvenient. Obviously after the bracing unit has been appliedto a joist or beam for a period of time, additional tension may beapplied thereto to further adjust the deflection thereof and any desiredtension may, of course, be obtained on the bracing unit.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement, and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention which generally stated consistsin the tions of a joist in longitudinally spaced apart relation anddisposed on opposite sides of the joist from each other, an elongatedtensioning member having the ends thereof respectively connected to theanchoring members and passing angularly downwardly therefrom on oppositesides of said joist and including a bottom portion passing under anintermediate portion of the joist and extending from one side thereof tothe other to interconnect the portions of said tensioning memberdisposed on opposite sides of the joist.

2. A joist bracing assembly comprising a pair of anchor ing bracketsconstructed and arranged to be mounted in fixed relation to the upperportions of a supporting member in longitudinally spaced apart relationand disposed on opposite sides of said supporting member from eachother, an elongated tensioning unit including a pair of end members anda center interconnection member, said end members having their upperends respectively anchored to said anchoring brackets and extendingangularly downwardly therefrom on opposite sides of said supportingmember, means interconnecting the upper ends of said center member withthe lower ends of said end members, said center member being soconstructed and arranged to pass under an intermediate portion of thesupporting member and extending from one side thereof to the other to bebraced and form a supporting cradle therefor.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2 and adjustable take-up means forvarying the tension on the interconnected tensioning unit.

4. A brace for joists and the like comprising an elongated bracing unithaving a lower intermediate portion constructed and arranged to underliean intermediate portion of a joist in engagement with an intermediateportion of the lower edge thereof and extending from one side thereof tothe other, said bracing unit also having a pair of upwardly inclined endportions extending upwardly from the intermediate portion on oppositesides of the joist, anchoring means for securely anchoring the upperends of said end portions to said joist and adjustable- 4 take-up meansfor varying the tension on said bracing unit to control the deflectionof said joist under stress.

5. A reinforcing brace for joists and the like comprising a plurality ofelongated interconnected tying elements, interconnectors respectivelyinterconnecting adjacent ends of said tying elements to form anelongated tying unit with an intermediate portion underlying a portionof said joist to be braced and extending from one side thereof to theother, means for anchoring the ends of said tying unit to opposite sidesof the joist in longitudinally spaced apart relation, and adjustabletake-up means for varying the reinforcing tension in said tying unit.

6. The structure set forth in claim 5 and said interconnectorscomprising at least three hollow elements for receiving the ends of saidtying elements to be interconnected, at least one of said tying elementshaving a hook formed on one end thereof to be received in a pair ofadjacent hollow elements to stabilize and reinforce the same, and meansfor anchoring the end of the other tying element to the other hollowelement of the interconnector,

7. The structure set forth in claim 6 and said last mentioned meanscomprising an adjustable take-up mechanism for varying the tension insaid joist reinforcing tying unit.

8. The structure set forth in claim 6 and said interconnector beingformed from a single piece of stiff sheet material doubled back uponitself to form the last mentioned hollow element with the other twohollow elements being formed from the end portions thereof to provide aweb structure therebetween, said hook of the tying element receivingsaid web structure to positively reinforce and stabilize the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS424,318 Lane Mar. 25, 1890 809,264 Humphreys Jan. 2, 1906 FOREIGNPATENTS 168,419 Austria June 11, 1951 169,601 Great Britain Oct. 6, 1921OTHER REFERENCES Engineering News Record, December 4, 1919, page 934.

